We’re not just moving in 2015 – we are rebuilding from the ground up. What works well, and what needs changing? Every department is looking closely at how patients and families feel when they walk in as well as how they feel they have been treated.

We are choosing the systems and processes that work well, and will be changing the ones that need changing. Everything from design and furniture to who greets patients when they walk in– these all will have an impact on how our patients experience healthcare in ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano.

The Laboratory Departments at both SMC and TCP-Shawano are good examples of how this works. The clinic laboratory had to move out of its old space to allow for construction. During this designing process, they have had to look at more than 30 different workflows and determine what will become the standard work in the future.

“We have had good collaboration between the clinic and the hospital,” said Ericka Kowalkowski, Shawano Medical Center and ThedaCare Physicians-Shawano supervisor. “Representatives from both sites have been studying key workflows.”

The team is also scheduled for cross-training and has been working on team building exercises in anticipation of coming together as one department.

This means when patients come into the Laboratory at the new ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano, they shouldn’t even notice “workflows.” What they will experience will be one seamless flow of care.